Weekly Market Update 1-4-24

Here is your weekly market update from the Garden City Co-op Grain Origination Team.

Trivia

1. What metal is the frame of the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball made of?

2. What is the translation of the title of the song “Auld Lang Syne”?

Answers at the bottom.

Market News​

South American Weather: Rains continue in South America helping their bean crop to boost good yields. This does not bode well for the U.S. beans on the export market. With Brazil having an ample crop to sell at cheap prices China will gobble up every soybean they can get, making U.S. exports an afterthought. This will also put a damper on futures with more soybeans in the world from the South American crop we have seen futures take a hit and little upside seen at this point.  

Export Inspections this week's showed that corn exceeded estimates, with 42.6 million bushels inspected. Soybeans were within estimates with 39.3 million bushels inspected, and wheat did well above estimates with 15.8 million bushels inspected. Milo came in at 10.3 million bushels. Milo and soybeans are above pace, while corn and wheat are still behind the pace required by the USDA.

Export sales showed improvement last week. Corn sales totaled 48.9 million bushels, an increase from the previous week. The largest purchaser of corn is Mexico, with new crop contracts totaling 400,000 bushels. Soybean sales reached 36.2 million bushels, with China being the biggest buyer. Wheat sales were 10.2 million bushels, and new crop contracts were at 1.5 million bushels, with Mexico being the largest destination for wheat. There were 500,000 bushels of Milo sold.

South America Weather Maps

Weather

After lucking out with beautiful temperatures in the last week, we are headed for a harsh dose of cold this weekend into next week – highs will be in the 30s with nighttime lows in the teens. Snow is expected to start tonight and continue into tomorrow, with forecasts varying on amounts. Most are calling for a few inches over GCC country. Chances for snow return to the forecast Monday and extended forecasts are showing chances even next weekend. For what it’s worth, current long range forecasts are calling for above average moisture for our area through the spring – a welcome change.
 

Trivia Answers

1. Aluminum

2. Times gone by